Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/306555
XIII maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 MAY 2014 Europe 2014 Roberta Metsola One year later I t has been one year since I was elected to fill Simon Busuttil's seat as a Member of the European Parliament for Malta. It seems like a lifetime ago that I was standing in the counting hall having been elected as one of the first three women to represent Malta in the European Parliament. I have done my best to be the voice of Maltese and Gozitans in Europe and to build networks that would allow me to ensure that our interests are always taken into consideration. I knew from day one that it was essential to hit the ground running and make full use of every day available to me until the end of this legislature. Around 80% of all legislation implemented in Malta is first negotiated in the European Parliament, making a strong voice there indispensable. Over the last year, I have tried to bring the EU decision-making process closer to people, meeting stakeholders, business representatives, thousands of families at their homes or addressing numerous conferences. I have visited families in Gozo about once every 10 days. We have had some notable results. The European Parliament is the natural home of the people of Malta and Gozo and I did not hesitate to stand up whenever I have seen that the interests of the people I represent are endangered, even when this runs contrary to Joseph Muscat's wishes. When it came to the government's removal of the Chairman of the Malta Communications Authority – a supposedly independent, regulatory body – I took the case on. More recently, when the Prime Minister insisted on selling Maltese and EU citizenship, I joined 91% of the European Parliament in underlining that this scheme undermines European values and that citizenship is not a commodity that can be bought and sold. For daring to criticise a scheme that has become the new face of old Labour, I was called a traitor. The Head of the Labour Delegation to the European Parliament even had the gall to phone in on a live radio show and insist that I not be re-elected. Now, in politics one must have a thick skin, but it is symptomatic of how Labour operates: disagree with the leader's irresponsible scheme, and they will attack. It mattered little. Joseph Muscat was forced to change the scheme on four different occasions. It was the same tired reaction from Labour, when I presented a petition supported by thousands of concerned citizens asking the European Commission to investigate the possible safety risks posed by Labour's huge gas tanker in the middle of Marsaxlokk Bay. On immigration, in October the European Parliament passed a cross-party resolution that specifically praised the work of the people of Malta and NGOs in the sector and highlighted that immigration requires an all- encompassing, holistic solution which includes addressing the disproportionate pressure on countries like Malta caused by the EU's Dublin Regulation. In April, after some tough negotiations, we amended FRONTEX's operational guidelines that make sure that pushbacks on the high seas to dangerous states are expressly banned and that disembarkation should be in line with international law. This was important. Only a few weeks after being elected, Malta was faced with the prospect of this government attempting to f lout international law and pushback a number of people we had just rescued from the sea. I joined the thousands of Maltese and NGOs who demanded that the prime minister stops playing games with people's lives. I was appointed as the European Parliament's rapporteur on four reports relating to asylum and the relationship between the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and Associated member states. It was with a great sense of pride that two of these reports were adopted with a massive majority of MEPs, with the other two having to be voted upon in the new legislature. I was also immensely proud to be appointed as the European People's Party's main spokesperson on the issue, leading my Party's negotiations on a report on the fight against discrimination and homophobia, and in February got a majority of MEPs from across the political divide to support a report that, while respecting the competence of member states to legislate themselves in the area, called on the European Commission to come up with a plan to deal with homophobia. On consumer protection, we agreed to end the unjustified mobile phone roaming rates we are all charged when using our phone in a different EU member state, while we also legislated for stronger net neutrality, data protection and online privacy provisions while ensuring that SMEs in Malta are protected from a one-size-fits-all policy. We are only six MEPs from Malta. We may be the smallest national delegation, but I will continue to work to ensure that the voice of our people is always heard. I will always stand up for the interests of the people I represent, irrespective of partisan interests and irrespective of any political threats or attacks. Should the people of Malta and Gozo confirm me to continue to serve in the European Parliament for the next five years, I will keep on working hard to make sure that we are best represented in those committees that have the most significant impact on Malta and that we have concrete systems in place to ensure that the voices of Maltese and Gozitan citizens, businesses and consumers are taken into consideration in every single position I adopt on their behalf. While a lot may have been achieved, there is a lot left to be done over the next five years. Roberta Metsola is a Nationalist candidate in the forthcoming European Parliamentary elections www.facebook.com/roberta. metsola Twitter: @RobertaMetsola For daring to criticise a scheme that has become the new face of old Labour, I was called a traitor YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt 'The European Parliament is the natural home of the people of Malta and Gozo'